Tag Archive | bible-study

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 261

Sep18

Day 260 – Reading – Ezra 4 – 6,  Psalm 137.

Read the Scriptures first. 

Again, a little background reading would be helpful.  Who are the people living in the land of Israel who were adversaries of the newly returned Jews?  Read 2 Kings 17:24-41 for background. 

When the Assyrians deported the people of the northern kingdom, whose capital was Samaria, they brought back people from all their other conquered nations to mix and marry with the remaining “low” Jews who were left and keep the land. These people brought their own worship of pagan gods, and God sent lions among them. Then the Assyrian king sent a Jewish priest back to teach (also) the ways of the LORD.  And so the people who settled there had a religion made up of worship of the LORD plus all the other despicable pagan gods. They became known as the Samaritans, whom, still in Jesus’ time, the Jews hated.

Now these “Samaritans” were objecting to the influx of thousands of pure Jews who were settling in the land and rebuilding the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem.

Ezra 4

These Samaritans approached the heads of the Jews and offered to “help” them rebuild the Temple, since they’d been worshiping this God too, since King Esarhaddon (Assyria) brought them there. 

Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the high priest, said, “No way!  We alone are building a house for OUR God, as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us.” (They could throw around a royal name, too!)

So the Samaritans resorted to discouraging and threatening the Jews, and bribing the contractors to slow the work.  They did this for SIXTEEN YEARS, through three Persian kings, until the time of King Darius! 

Whoa! 

During the reign of King Ahasuerus (after Cyrus), these Samaritans wrote an accusation against the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. (No response, maybe because the king was busy with his new Queen Esther, Mordecai, and his wicked prime minister, Haman.)

Then, during the reign of King Artaxerxes, they wrote another letter against Jerusalem. The exact letter is shown in Ezra 4:11-16. It ends with a threat, “…if the city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have NO possession in the province beyond the river!”  The Samaritans asked him to search the records and see if this city is not as rebellious and seditious as they claim!

This king listened to the Samaritans this time and sent a decree that all the work in Jerusalem was to “cease and desist.”   And so “the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem STOPPED and it CEASED until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.”

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Ezra 5.

After the prophets of God, Haggai and Zechariah, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the LORD, Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the high priest, were encouraged and arose to begin rebuilding the Temple of the Lord. 

Once again, the opposition arose. The governor of the province and his associates came to them, demanding to see any new decree that allowed them to start building again.  They also demanded the names of all the workers.  (Sounds like Communism!)  The Jews ignored them… until a report could be sent to King Darius, and an answer returned.

Again, a copy of the letter the Governor sent to King Darius is included in Ezra 5:5b-17.  This letter is humorous to read because the Samaritans quote Zerubbabel, who explained how they were obeying the God of heaven and earth. They also quote him saying that King Cyrus had commanded them to rebuild it and had sent much money to make sure it was done.  

The Samaritans again ask the Persian king to “search the royal archives of Babylon” to see if such a decree WAS issued by Cyrus.   

(They had requested this of Artaxerxes, but he’d just given the decree WITHOUT searching the records!  But this king was actually going to do it.)

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Ezra 6.

King Darius DID make a search of the archives, and a scroll was found on which was written a decree by Cyrus, the king.  “Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height and breadth shall be 60 cubits each, with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. LET THE COST BE PAID FROM THE ROYAL TREASURY. And let the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar took be brought back to the temple of God.”

Ha!  Well, that serves those Samaritans right.  But wait!  King Darius continues,

  • “Now, therefore, let the Governor and his associates keep away and let the work on the house of God alone.  Let the Jews rebuild the house of God on its site. 
  • MOREOVER … I make a decree that the cost of rebuilding the house of the God of the Jews IS TO BE PAID IN FULL AND WITHOUT DELAY from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province (Samaritans).
  • AND, whatever is needed — bulls, rams, sheep for the burn offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, or oil as the priests at Jerusalem require — let that be given to them day by day WITHOUT FAIL, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven (and pray for the life of the king and his sons.)
  • ALSO, I decree that anyone who alters this edict, that a beam shall be pulled out of his house and he be impaled on it, and the house be made a dunghill.  WHOA!!
  • May the God who has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem.
  • I, Darius, make a decree; let it be done with all diligence!  (And I imagine a swirling signature… or maybe the imprint of the royal ring in the clay.)

And according to the word sent by Darius, the Governor and his associates did with all diligence what the king ordered.  The Jews finished their building by decree  of the God of Israel, and by decree of Cyrus and Darius of Persia.  It had been 20 years since the foundation was laid.

The priests, Levites, and the returned exiles celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.  And they set up everything as it was written in the Book of Moses.

Then the returned exiles kept the Passover.  And the kept the feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days, with joy for the LORD had made them joyful.  

And so ended the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

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(Praise God!  He always keeps his promises.  He supplies, encourages, protects and helps those who obey Him.  Thank You, LORD, for doing those things for us today as well.  YOU are the God we serve, and love, and obey. You gave us salvation through Jesus… an even greater gift than the rebuilt temple. Thank You!)

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 260

Sep17

Day 260 – Reading – Ezra 1 – 3

Read the Scriptures listed.

Read 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 first. (It’s the book just before Ezra.)  Also read Isaiah 44:8 and 45:1-4,  Jeremiah 29:10-15, and Daniel 9:2.

This stirring up of Cyrus, king of Persia, was not just a random thing, but had been foretold by the prophets in detail.  Seventy years. Cyrus, king of Persia.  Return to rebuild the “House of the LORD”

Ezra 1.

The way the LORD changes people’s minds is by stirring up their spirits.  Perhaps Daniel, his prime minister, showed him his own name – Cyrus – in the ancient Hebrew prophet of Isaiah. Regardless, Cyrus proclaimed throughout his kingdom that the LORD, God of heaven, had charged him to rebuild HIS house at Jerusalem.  Then an open invitation.  “Whoever is among you of all His people, may his God be with him, AND LET HIM GO UP TO JERUSALEM AND REBUILD THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL.”

The beginning of the returned Israel must begin with their God, and His house of worship.  Then they can see to themselves.  It’s like our own lives.  If God is honored at the center, then the rest will fall into place.

Cyrus also called for the people who remained (Jew or Babylonian) to assist those who were going by giving them silver, gold, goods, and beasts, and freewill offerings for the new Temple.  (Does this remind you of the night of Passover in Egypt?  The Egyptians then had loaded the Israelites with goods and beautiful ornaments, jewelry, vessels, and clothing. 

And so the priests, Levites, and the “leaders” of Judah and Benjamin rose up and made ready to go the 800 miles back to Judah and Jerusalem to rebuild the House of the LORD in Jerusalem. Cyrus brought out the gold and silver vessels from Solomon’s Temple (that Nebuchadnezzar had stolen, and Belshazzar had wickedly used). There were 5,400 articles!! WOW!   Cyrus gave them to Sheshbazzar, the treasurer, for safekeeping as they traveled and while the Temple building progressed. 

(There is no mention of the Ark of the Covenant with them.)

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Ezra 2.

This chapter lists by name and family those who returned in the first wave.  They returned each to his own town.

(Wow, what a sight it must have been! How many changes had there been in 70 years, with the crops, orchards, and vineyards barely kept going by the unskilled farmers who had been left behind?  Did the returnees “itch” to get things in order and fix up or rebuild their houses and barns?  BUT, the Temple was first.)

Those who led this group of 50,000 were Zerubbabel (in the line of Christ, see Matthew 1:13), Jeshua/Joshua (the high priest of the first return, in the line of Aaron), Nehemiah (not the same as the Book), Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai (not Esther’s uncle), Belshan, Mispar, Bigval, Rehum, Baanah, and the king’s appointed treasurer, Sheshbazzar.  Twelve men.  

The returnees were divided into these categories: The (general) people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants (singers, gatekeepers, etc.), the sons of Solomon’s servants, and those who could not prove (lost their lineage) that they belonged to Israel.  (They were only excluded from the priesthood.)

Some of the heads of families donated thousands of gold and silver coins to the project. They also gave 100 priests’ garments! 

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Ezra 3.

The returnees actually took seven months to fix up their own dwellings.  Then they built the altar of the God of Israel and sacrificed burnt offerings on it as was written in the Law of Moses. Morning and evening, they offered burnt offerings on it. There were also freewill offerings, offerings at the new moon, and at the feasts.  The first they kept was the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).

Then they got to work on the foundation of the new temple.  They hired (with the money King Cyrus gave) Sidonians and Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon via the sea to Joppa.

Seven months later. Zerubbabel and the others made a beginning. Jeshua, the priests, and the Levites supervised the work and the workmen.  When the foundation was laid, the priests in their vestments came out blowing trumpets and praising the LORD, according to the directions of David, the king of Israel.  And they sang the songs he had written and thanked the LORD.

  • “For He is good, His mercy endures forever toward Israel.”

All the people shouted and praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. Many shouted for joy, but there were those–old men–who had seen the former Temple.  They wept with equally loud voices.

And the sound of rejoicing and weeping was heard far away.  (Ah-oh!)

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(How wonderful that the Temple was the first thing to be built. It would be the place where their God would live among them, as before. Yet it wasn’t exactly like before.   Things were not so lavish in gold. There was no palace or king. And for the most part, the city and the great walls were rubble.  But the Temple would stand again!!

O LORD, help me to make sure YOU are at the center of my heart and my life.  May I not stray from worship, praise and thanksgiving to You, oh, precious Lord.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 259

Sep16

Day 259 – Reading – Daniel 10 – 12

Read the Scriptures.  

Daniel 10.

Here is another of the “end-time” prophesies that is hard to understand.  At least it seemed that Daniel understood some of it.

“In the third year of Cyrus, King of Persia, a word was REVEALED to Daniel.  And the word was true, and it was a great conflict.  And he UNDERSTOOD the word and had understanding of the vision.”

(This is now two years after the first decree was made to let Israel return to their land.)  Daniel had been mourning and waiting for three weeks concerning the visions he’d already seen. He was on the beach of the Tigris River when he saw a man (a vision?)  He describes this man much the way John described the risen/exalted Jesus in Revelation 1:13-14. Could this have been a Pre-Christ “Christophany?”  Also, Daniel’s reaction (He fell to the ground with no strength) was like John’s. Rev. 1:17.

(HOWEVER, many believe this “being” was again the angel Gabriel.)

A hand touched Daniel and “set him trembling on his hands and knees,” and the being said the sweetest words. “O Daniel, man much loved…”  Daniel stood, still trembling to hear the words, “From the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of them.”

Then the holy being explained a bit of invisible warfare that you and I are mostly unaware of. “The prince (demonic ruler) of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.”

He now tells Daniel why he is there.  He has come to “make Daniel understand what is to happen to Israel in the latter days.”  At this, the being had to once again strengthen Daniel,

“O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage. 

I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth.”

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Daniel 11.

The being first confirms that Darius has been tasked to show kindness towards Israel in helping them return to their land.

Then, as in chapter 8:3-26, “a great huge chunk” of future events is retold. There will be conflict among the world nations, which will follow each other in conquest and power up to Antiochus Epiphanes and the desecration of the Temple. (Only a preview of what will happen later with the Antichrist. see Dan. 11:36) 

(This account is so accurate in history that critics think that it was written 400 years AFTER Daniel.  But, hey, we know that GOD knows all things from eternity past to eternity future, and He simply let Daniel in on a few items.)

The account continues with great persecution for the Jews until the “time of the end.”  The evil antichrist will reign until the Lord Jesus Christ returns in power and defeats him once and for all.  “He shall come to his end, with none to help him.”

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Daniel 12.

Encouragement is now given to Daniel and Daniel’s people, Israel. When that great evil antichrist is in power, the archangel Michael (keeper of Israel) will arise to help.

“And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people (Israel) SHALL BE DELIVERED, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.  MANY of those who sleep … shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  And THOSE who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above.  THOSE who turn many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.”

Then, Daniel is told to “shut of the words and seal the book” until the time of the end, when many will run to and fro and knowledge shall increase.  (WOW, DOESN’T THAT SEEM LIKE THESE DAYS, TODAY?)

Then Daniel looked and heard someone call out, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?”

And the being (Christ?) who was above the waters of the stream (Tigris) raised both hands to heaven, and swore, cryptically … “It will be for a time…times…and half a time. When the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end … all these things will be FINISHED.

Daniel: “I heard, but I did not understand.”  (You are not alone, Daniel.)

The being said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and “the abomination” that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.  Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days.”

Then He assures Daniel that he will “rest” (die) and “shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”   

(Oh, YES!  In eternity, Daniel will be there in his allotted place, and we will get to meet him.)

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(LORD, I surely do not understand much of this.  Like Daniel I have many questions. But I will trust YOU to put me where I’m to be, and at Your perfect time.  Oh, help me to be faithful!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 256

Sep13

Day 256 – Reading – Daniel 1 – 3.

Read Today’s Scriptures.  What do you see in Daniel that is new?

Daniel.

The book of Daniel covers the life of the prophet, from a teenager to an old man, and bridges the entire 70 years of captivity.  Daniel was taken captive from Jerusalem (along with his three friends) in Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation. (Ezekiel went in the second.) (Ezekiel calls Daniel both righteous and wise.)  He was a prophet of God through two world empires. (Babylon, Medo-Persia) 

God, through Daniel, revealed to kings the meaning of their visions and dreams, even showing world powers way beyond their years.  What Revelation is to the New Testament, Daniel is to the Old Testament.

Daniel 1.

Daniel is taken to Babylon (the land of Shinar) along with “SOME of the vessels of the Temple.” (Do you remember King Hezekiah showing off all the treasures of the Temple to emissaries from Babylon, in Isaiah 39:1-6?  Nebuchadnezzar will take all of them in his second siege, and will even melt the precious metal from the Temple to take away in the final siege.)  These golden vessels were placed in the temple treasury of the Babylonian god, Bel, or Marduk. 

Next, Nebuchadnezzar designated some young men of the royal and noble Jewish families to be trained to work in his courts. He sent the chief of the eunuchs** to train them in the wisdom and learning of Babylon, deportment in royal ways, informed of the literature and language of the Chaldeans. They must also be without blemish, handsome, and healthy looking.

Among the ones chosen were Daniel and his three friends.  The chief of the eunuchs** was tasked to train them for three years. First, he changed their Jewish names to Babylonian ones.

**Does this mean Daniel and the others were made eunuchs?

Daniel resolved to keep himself from being defiled by pagan foods.  He requested of the chief of the eunuch to be able to eat only Kosher food. The man gave him (and his friends) ten days.  At the end, they were more healthy-looking than all the others, so he allowed them to continue with that diet.

God also gave them extra learning and skill in literature and wisdom.  And Daniel had special understanding of all visions and dreams.   (He reminds me of Joseph, in Genesis.)

At then end of the 3-year training, they all were brought before Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel and his friends were shown to be the “top of the class.,” better even than the older court magicians and enchanters!

(God honors those who honor Him!)

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Daniel 2.

Then came a test.  King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. (No, not like Martin Luther King Jr.)  It bothered him terribly.  He called all  his magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers to TELL him his dream and then INTERPRET his dream.

Of course none of those imposters could tell the King what he dreamed.  They were used to HIM telling THEM the dream, and they’d make up an interpretation.  

  1. Wise men: We can’t tell you YOUR dream, O King.  Tell it to us and we’ll tell you what it means.
  2. King Neb.:  NO!  You must tell me my dream, or…or… or you are imposters!!  And if so, you are dead men!
  3. Wise men: But, we can’t!
  4. King Neb.:  GRRRRRRR!!  LET ALL THE WISE MEN OF BABYLON BE DESTROYED!!

Wise men, Daniel and his friends, heard the decree to kill all of them. He went to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, and inquired with prudence and discretion what the hoop-la was about.  After he was told, Daniel requested an appointment with the King, that HE might show the King HIS dream.

THEN, Daniel (wise man that he was) asked his three friends to pray with him all night that God would show him the mystery of the king’s dream.   

AND THE MYSTERY WAS REVEALED TO DANIEL IN A VISION.

Next morning, Daniel went to King Nebuchadnezzar and calmly told him the dream and the interpretation, after first telling the pagan king that it was the JEWISH GOD who’d revealed it to him.

  • You saw a great image and it was scary.
  • From top to bottom, it was made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and iron mixed with clay.
  • A stone struck the image on its feet and broke them to pieces, then the whole thing fell and the wind carried it all away.
  • The stone became an unstoppable Kingdom forever.

Yes, cried the king. That’s right.  What does it mean?

And Daniel prophetically told him of the coming world empires after Babylon, represented by the golden head:  silver chest and arms = Medo-Persian, bronze middle and thighs = Greece, iron legs = Rome, and mixed iron and clay = revived Rome. And the stone?   Christ destroying the fourth empire and establishing the Millennian. 

King Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed by Daniel’s God telling the future.  And he gave Daniel gifts and made him ruler over the whole province, and became chief prefect over all the king’s men.  He also placed Daniel’s three friends in high places.

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Daniel 3.

Perhaps the king got so enamored with himself as the “head of gold,” that he had a huge 90-foot golden statue made in his likeness.  Not just the head, but the whole thing was gold.  He had a dedication party where he invited everybody who was somebody to it.  When the music began to play, they all would fall down and worship the image.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?  Um, no. As obedient Jews, they would not worship the king’s golden statue.  (Their ancestors had worshiped a few golden calves, and see what happened. Other idols in Jerusalem had caused the fall of that great city and the ruin of the magnificent Temple of God!  Bow to a golden statue?  NO WAY!)

  • The jealous ministers tattled on them.
  • Nebuchadnezzar gave them a second chance, and started up the music.
  • The three stood firm shaking their heads.
  • Then the infuriated king threw the miscreants into the blazing, hot furnace.  So there!
  • But wait. 
  • The three walked around in the furnace as if it were a Yogurt Land.  Their ropes were gone.  And… a fourth person was with them looking very much like “the Son of God.”

Nebuchadnezzar ordered them out, and quizzed them.  After all not a thread or hair was scorched, and they didn’t even smell of smoke.

“Our faithful God kept us.”

Now it was the king to stand in awe. “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has delivered his servants, who trusted Him and disobeyed the king’s command, and yielded up their lives rather than worship him. 

So King Nebuchadnezzar made a NEW law than anyone who speaks against their God, would be killed and their houses ruined.   And once again, the three were promoted.

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 255

Sep12

Day 255 – Reading – Joel 1 – 3

Read the Scriptures.  Meditate on what the prophet JOEL is saying.

Joel 1.

Joel’s message is timeless and applicable to any age. God judges sin, no matter what kind, or when. Joel calls for repentance, as in “rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Joel refers often to “the Day of the LORD.” which speaks of God’s wrath and judgment on sin anywhere and in any time.   

In this chapter, it’s probably wise to see the invasion of locusts as ACTUAL locusts, rather than invading armies.  And drought is another calamity Israel is facing. Not only do these affect the people personally, but there there is no grain for the Priests to offer.  Both vines and fig trees are affected – the very last things that locusts will eat. 

Joel calls for a fast to the LORD. This horrendous agricultural devastation is just a hint of the “Day of the LORD” to come in the future.

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Joel 2.

Joel uses the locust plague and the drought as a metaphor of the coming invasion of Judah, and even farther, the future Day of the LORD. 

“…the day of the LORD is coming: it is near. A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been seen, nor will be again…”

God is so gracious!  Even in the coming invasion, He gives Judah (and us) a chance to repent! 

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your HEARTS and not your garments.”

“Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.  WHO KNOWS? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him.”

(No, the people did not repent, and yes, the LORD did send destruction of Judah and Jerusalem. But after the time He designated, God wanted to “restore” them.)

“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given the early rain for you vindication; He has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.”

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter. My great army, which I sent among you.  You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the Name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.”

Then, he gives a marvelous prophecy that Peter later picks up in his sermon at Pentecost.

“And it shall come to pass AFTERWARD that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  EVEN on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out My Spirit.”

“And it shall come to pass that EVERYONE who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

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Joel 3.

Joel writes of the time when the nation of Israel will be regathered to the Land.  And He will gather the other nations to a final confrontation at the battle of Armageddon.  God will judge the nations.

“Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plows into sword, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I AM A WARRIOR.”

“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.  Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. (See Rev. 14:20)  The vats overflow, for their evil is great.  Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LRD is near in the valley of decision.”

“The LORD ROARS from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake.

“But the LORD is a refuge to His people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

“And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; AND A FOUNTAIN SHALL COME FORTH FROM THE HOUSE OF THE LORD AND WATER THE VALLEY OF SHITTIM.” (See Ezekiel 47)

“Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations.”

Amen!

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(Thank You, LORD, for Joel, and the promises of restoration that reach even to our day: the time of the Gentiles. And, O, may MY heart repent of my sins, and be softened toward You.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 254

Sep11

Day 254 – Reading – EZEKIEL 46 – 48

Read the Scriptures.  Meditate on what the prophet is saying.

EZEKIEL 46.

New/old rules for worship and offerings are covered here. The priest will offer the sacrifices and grain offering to the LORD as always, but the prince will have a part too (such as supplying some of the offerings). He shall enter the vestibule (inner court) in front of the Temple, do his thing, and leave by the same way. All the others who come to worship will enter one gate and leave by another. 

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Ezekiel 47.

Ezekiel, in his vision, is now brought to the door of the temple. He sees water leaking from below the threshold, south of the altar. (???)  Ezekiel is led out of the NORTH gate and is walked around the outside of the Temple compound to the SOUTH side.  There, flowing eastward, he sees the trickling water. 

The measuring man measures out 1,000 cubits (approx. 1,500 feet), and the water is “ankle deep.”  Another 1,000 cubits, and the water flowing out is now “knee deep.”  And 1,000 cubits more, and the water is “waist-deep.” After 1,000 more cubits, it was a river he could not walk though and deep enough to swim in. (Can you picture that?)

Then amazing words from the measuring man, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah (ravine), and enters the sea (Dead Sea): when the water flows into the sea, the water will become FRESH! And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be many fish!  And fishermen will cast nets! (But there will be marshes for salt.) Fruit trees will grow there!   The fruit will be for food, and the leaves for healing!  WOW!

Then the man gives the boundaries of the Millennial Israel.  Damascus, the East side of the Sea, the Brook of Egypt, and the Great Sea (Mediterranean).   See the map below.

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Ezekiel 48.

A Map of how the tribal lands will be divided during the Millennial Kingdom. 

Seven of the tribes will be located in the north, followed by the “holy portion” in the middle with the Temple.  Finally, the five remaining tribes will have their land in the south.

On the walls of the CITY in the middle (not the Temple compound), there will be three gates facing north with the names of 3 tribes (Reuben, Judah, and Levi). 

On the east side of the city, the three gates are named Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan.

The three south-facing gates of the city will be named Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun.

And on the west side of the city, the gates are named Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.

NOTE:  All the unconditional promises that God had made to Israel in 1) the Abrahamic Covenant; 2) the Priestly Covenant, 3) the Davidic Covenant, and 4) the New Covenant have here been fulfilled

The departed glory has returned, and God is dwelling again in the midst of His people.  And the name of THIS city, from that time on, shall be YHWH Shammah, “The LORD is there.”  

Amen!

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(And then, the New Jerusalem descending from heaven, also with twelve gates with the tribes’ names. But that final city will have NO Temple, because the LORD GOD and the LAMB are the temple. See Revelation 21:10-20.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 252

Sep9

Day 252 – Reading – EZEKIEL 40 – 42

Read the Scriptures.  Meditate on what the prophet is saying.

 

Illustration: Ezekiel’s Vision of the New “Millennial” Temple when “the Prince” (Jesus) will reign as King.

Ezekiel 40.

Ezekiel has this wondrous vision in the 25th year of his exile (14 years after Jerusalem fell), on the tenth day of the month, at the beginning of the Jewish year, when the preparations of Passover began.  God took Ezekiel, in a vision, to the land of Israel, to a high mountain (probably Mt. Zion, lifted up by that great earthquake (Ezek. 38:19). 

The LORD’s instructions to Ezekiel were:  “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, FOR YOU WERE BROUGHT HERE IN ORDER THAT I MIGHT SHOW IT ALL TO YOU. Declare ALL you see to the house of  Israel.”

Boy, I would have had to have the drawings, schematics, pens, and rulers, etc., to fulfill that task!  But it seems a “man like bronze” helped Ezekiel by measuring everything.  This was the Temple and the area around it (chambers, court, gates, walls).

NOTE: This is the MILLENNIAL (1,000-year) Temple when Jesus will reign on earth.  (It’s NOT Zerubbabel’s small temple built by the returned exiles, and later rebuilt by Herod (God’s presence was not in that one). It was NOT the “Eternal” temple in heaven, because the Lord and the Lamb are that Temple.)

Ezekiel 41.

This describes the “nave” (Holy Place) and the Most Holy Place, which are of the exact measurements as Solomon’s temple (twice that of the Tabernacle).  There is a large building to the West of the Temple, which was probably a large storehouse for supplies. He describes a few things inside the “nave” (Holy Place), such as a wooden altar, like the “Altar of Incense.”  And it looks like wooden, hinged double doors separated the “nave” from the Most Holy Place (instead of a massive veil).  

NOTE: There is no mention of the Ark of the Covenant.

Ezekiel 42.

Next to the inner court where the Temple was, on both north and south sides, were large, 3-storey “Priest’s Chambers.”  In these, the priests would change into the priestly garments before entering the Temple area and where they would eat the “holy offerings.” 

The “bronze man” then took Ezekiel OUTSIDE the walls, through the Eastern Gate, and showed him the measurements of the wall.  They were approximately ONE MILE on each side.  (Yes, too large for Mt Moriah, but remember the changes to the area of Jerusalem during the Great Battle at the end of the Tribulation. See Zechariah 14).  This wall separated “the holy and the common.”

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I love how the Temple area is exactly square now. It reminds me of the New Jerusalem coming down (Revelation) which will be a 1,500 mile cube.  The LORD is a God of order. He has wonderful plans which He revealed to Ezekiel (and the other prophets, and to John) so His people will know He will forever take care of them.  I PRAISE YOU, O God!

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 250 & 251

Sep8

Sunday and Monday studies are posted TOGETHER on Monday.

Day 250 – Reading – EZEKIEL 34 – 36

Day 251 – Reading EZEKIEL – 37 – 39

Read the Scriptures.  Meditate on what the prophets were saying. Check out the linked verses.

Day 250 – Ezekiel 34.

This chapter is about shepherds (good and bad), and sheep. Ezekiel 34:1-5 tells of the bad shepherds of Israel who mistreated, misused the ones in their care, and allowed wild beasts to get them. 

Ezekiel 34:11:16 reminds me of Psalm 23 (I will feed them with good pasture, vs14) and (They shall lie down in good grazing land, I myself will make them lie down, vs. 15).   

John 10:1-6 and Luke 15: 4-5 also tells of Jesus being a “good” shepherd, going after lost sheep, binding up the injured and carrying the weak. 

Matthew 25:31-46 tells about Jesus dividing the nations into sheep and goats and judging them on that final day, similar to Ezekiel 34: 17 and 20.

Read those verses in Psalms, Luke, John and Matthew, if you have time.

And the promise: One day, God will set over Israel ONE SHEPHERD, God’s servant, David, the “prince among them.”  And God will make a covenant of “Peace” with them.  And He will send down “showers of blessing” upon them and provide “renowned plantations” for them. “They will be His people, His sheep, human sheep of His pasture, and He will be their God.”

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Ezekiel 35.

This chapter is a prophecy against Mount Seir, or Edom, the people of Esau who was Jacob/Israel’s older twin brother. Animosity was between them… from the womb!

Now God is their enemy, and says he will cause desolation to them as well, their cities will be come a waste. This prediction came to pass, beginning with King Nebuchadnezzar. There is no trace of Edomites now, though their cities remain as ruins, such as Petra. 

There were multiple reasons for their destruction.

  1. “They cherished perpetual enmity against Israel,
  2. They killed and gave the people (who were escaping) back to the hands of Nebuchadnezzar,
  3. They planned to snatch the now vacant land of Israel and Judah as their own,
  4. They showed anger, envy, and hatred against Israel/Judah,
  5. They magnified themselves against God and multiplied their words against Him. (He heard it.)
  6. Their joy over Israel’s calamity.

So, God said to them, “You shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.”

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Ezekiel 36.

Next comes a chapter of blessing, on the LAND (mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys).  They will no longer be used by the surrounding nations as places of worship of their gods.  No longer shall they “devour God’s people and bereave the nation of their children. (worship of Moloch) and make them stumble. 

But now the mountains of Israel “shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home!”

God isn’t doing it for the Land’s sake, or for the sake of the people, but for His own Holy Name’s sake, which they had profaned among the nations. 

God will bring back his people and “sprinkle clean water on them to cleanse them from all uncleanness.”  He will give them a new heart, and a new spirit within them, and cause them to walk in His statutes and obey His rules. He will cause them in increase like a flock, so the waste cities will be filled.  They shall be His people, and He their God. 

And they will KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.

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Day 251 – EZEKIEL 37.

“Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones! O hear the word of the Lord.”

YEP, those bones are in this chapter.  God gives Ezekiel another vision.  He is “taken” to a valley where he sees huge numbers of dry bones scattered everywhere, representing the scattered exiles of Israel and Judah. 

“Son of man,” the LORD asked him, “Can these bones live?

“O Lord God,” he said. “Only YOU know.”

“Prophesy and say to the bones, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.  I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come to you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live. And you will know that I am the LORD.”

So Ezekiel prophesied this, and …. as he spoke there was a sound…, a rattling… and the bones came together, bone “connected”  to its bone.  And there were sinews on them… and flesh… and skin covered them…. But there was no breath in them.

“Prophesy and say to ‘the breath,’ “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live.”  And so Ezekiel did, and the breath came into them, and they LIVED and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

“These bones are the whole house of Israel. They are saying, ‘Our bones are dried-up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.”  “But say to them, ‘I will open your graves and raise you, O my people. I will bring you into the land of Israel.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live and I shall place you in your own land.”

.The God said to Ezekiel, “Take a stick and write on it, JUDAH. Take another stick and write on it ISRAEL. Then join them together, that they may become ONE in your hand.”  This was to show how God would ONE DAY bring both nations together again with ONE king, a descendant of David, a prince forever. And God would make an “everlasting covenant of peace” with them.

God also promised they would be in THEIR LAND, multiplied in number, and that God’s Sanctuary would be in their midst forever.  He would forever dwell with them.

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Ezekiel 38 – 39.

Next comes a prophecy that has been debated often.  Heads are scratched, trying to figure out just WHO God was taking about. 

Gog, in the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: whoever he is, God is against him.  Some believe this leader and his country represent Russia and its vassal states, along with the areas of Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. (the north).  But who knows if those nations are in existence when this prophecy takes place. 

Many people have tried to take the distribution of peoples after the Flood, and figure out the names from that list (See Genesis 10:1-10. Meshech and Tubal ARE mentioned).  But as Ezekiel said in Chapter 37, “LORD, You know.”

Anyway, a great war is to take place between Gog’s hordes and the countries with him, and God’s people, Israel. Gog will come as a great cloud covering the land, but God will VINDICATE HIS HOLINESS!  

  • His  WRATH will be roused! 
  • In his JEALOUSY He will declare a GREAT EARTHQUAKE. 
  • He will summon a sword against Gog (and they will fight among themselves).
  • With pestilence and bloodshed, the LORD will JUDGE Gog.
  • He will send torrential rain and hail, fire and sulfur on them. 
  • He will show His greatness and Holiness.
  • And they will know that He is the LORD.

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Ezekiel is to prophesy further to this invading monster, 

  • “Behold I am against you, O Gog,
  • I will turn you about and drive you forward and bring you up from the North
  • I will lead you against the mountains of Israel.
  • I will strike your bow and arrow.
  • You will fall, you and your hordes and all the peoples with you.
  • I will give you to the birds of prey and the beasts of the field to be devoured.
  • I will send fire on Magog and those who dwell securely in the coastlands.

And God said, “My holy name I will make know in the midst of my people Israel,

and I will not let My holy name be profaned any more.

And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”

After that great battle (Armageddon), the people of Israel will burn the weapons of these dead for SEVEN YEARS.  And God will designate a place of burial for all the millions of fallen intruders.  It will take Israel SEVEN MONTHS to bury them all and cleanse the land. 

All this, the war, the decimation of Gog, etc., will prove to the world that He is THE LORD.  They will see His power and glory, and know.

And after he has restored the fortunes of Jacob, and has shown merch on the house of Israel… THEY will forget their shame and treachery against Him, THEY will see and know that He is the LORD.

“I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.

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( O LORD, I’m so glad Your name and holiness will be vindicated!  I’m glad Israel will finally see You as their God.  You are faithful to Your Word!  Though the hours, days, and years may stretch way out, I can fully trust the promises in Your Word.  Help me to keep my eyes on YOU, and stay “standing on the promises of God, my king!”)

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 249

Sep6

Day 249 – Reading – EZEKIEL 31 – 33

Read the Scriptures.  Meditate on what the prophets were saying.

EZEKIEL 31.

This is another metaphor, portraying Assyria as a tall Cedar tree, more lovely than the trees in Eden.  God made it tall and strong. It had pride. God gave it into the hands of the mighty one and the most ruthless of the nations (Babylon). It fell into the pit of Sheol.  And then God turns to Egypt…..  

  • Whom are you like in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden?  You shall be brought down with them to the world below.  You shall be among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.  This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.”

. Ezekiel 32.

This is twelve years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation.  A lamentation over the Pharaoh and Egypt.  Egypt thinks of itself as a lion, but God compares Pharaoh to a Dragon in the sea.  God will drag it from the water, throw it on the ground, and allow the beasts and fowl to devour it.  The flesh of her will be scattered throughout the land, and her blood will drench the mountains.

Many peoples will be appalled at them. It will be the king of Babylon who will ruin the pride of Egypt and kill its multitudes. Assyria is already there (gone), and so is Elam, Meshech-Tubal, Edom, and the Sidonians.  These are the “uncircumcised” whom Egypt will lie amongst. 

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Ezekiel 33. 

God has set apart Ezekiel to be a Watchman for His people.  If he sees “the sword” coming and warns the people by blowing his trumpet … if any of them hear it but 1) do not heed it, the sword will come and take them away. But their blood (the responsibility) will not be on the Watchman’s head.  

But if the Watchman sees the sword coming and does NOT warn by blowing the trumpet, and the people don’t hear and take heed, and they are taken away,  2) their blood will be on the Watchman’s head. (His responsibility).

And so whenever God speaks to Ezekiel about the people’s wickedness, and he does not warn them, THEIR blood shall be on HIM.  But if he warns them and they do noting, they will die, but YOU Ezekiel, have delivered your soul. 

And God asks, “Why will you die, Israel??  As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked TURN FROM THEIR EVIL WAYS and live.  TURN BACK!  Why will you die, O house of Israel??

  1. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it.
  2. When the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. 

And you say, O House of Israel, that the ways of the LORD are not just.  It is YOUR way that is not just.

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Then, on January 8, 585 B.C., six months after Jerusalem’s fall, a “fugitive” from Jerusalem came to Ezekiel. “The city has been struck down.”

When the people came to complain that the land was THEIRS, God rebuked them for their sin.  “I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. THEN THEY WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.”

(Oh, LORD, our hearts are so sinful and prideful. And many times WE argue with you. YOU, the almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth! LORD, forgive us. YOUR way is right and truthful. Please help us, help ME, to follow your path … follow Jesus.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 248

Sep5

Day 248 – Reading – EZEKIEL 28 – 30

Read the Scriptures.  Meditate on what the prophets were saying.

EZEKIEL 28.

Ezekiel continues the scathing prophesies against the nations around God’s people for cheering the destruction of Jerusalem, and their eagerness to plunder her themselves.  Here, he continues with the City-State of Tyre.

“The word of the LORD came to me: son of man, say to the prince of Tyre…….”

  • “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods,’ yet you are but a man and no god … because you make your heart like the heart of a god,
  • THEREFORE, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of nations, and they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. 
  • They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas.
  • “Will you still say I am a god…?

Then God tells Ezekiel to raise a lamentation over the kin of Tyre.  (This “lamentation,” although about the King of Tyre, has many people comparing it to Satan’s pride and beauty, as an anointed guardian cherub, and his fall from heaven.)

Sidon.  God next tells Ezekiel to prophesy against Sidon, a sister city with Tyre. He will execute judgment on them too, and show them His holiness when He sends “pestilence into her, and blood into her streets.”

Having settled accounts with Israel’s neighbors on all sides, He says that the House of Israel shall no more have briar or thorn to hurt her.   And when He gathers them home from the nations of exile, they will build houses and plant vineyards and dwell securely.  (Can you hear a big sigh?) 

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Ezekiel 29.

Ezekiel steps back a few years (twelfth day, tenth month, tenth year) of their exile.  Nebuchadnezzar is at Jerusalem, but it will be seven months before it is destroyed.

God tells Ezekiel to set his face against Pharaoh, king of Egypt (for four chapters).

  • “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it myself.’ 
  • I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the “
  • fish” (people) of your streams stick to you when I draw you up.
  • And I will cast you out into the wilderness, and you will fall in the open field… to the beasts of the earth and birds of the heavens …. for food.”

God will judge them because they failed Israel when they grasped them for help.

God will also judge them for their pride in saying they “made” the Nile River.

  • “I will make the land of Egypt a desolation … and her cities shall be a desolation for forty years. 
  • I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 
  • Then I will gather and restore their fortunes. But they shall be a lowly kingdom, the most lowly. They will never rule over nations again. 
  • They will never again be the reliance of Israel.
  • THAT THEY WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD GOD.

Then God tells Ezekiel something interesting… 

He brought Nebuchadnezzar against Tyre (as foretold in chapter 26), and the Babylonian army had to “labor hard” against them. But they never got anything for their labor.  THEREFORE, says God, He was going to pay for the labor Nebuchadnezzar performed for Him by giving the king the land of Egypt and her wealth. 

HUH!  Yes, God is totally sovereign!  He has the nations in the palms of His hands.  (He would always win at Monopoly!)

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Ezekiel 30.

Then God told Ezekiel to “lament” for Egypt.

  • “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near;
  • it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
  • sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush,
  • when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away,
  • and her foundations are torn down.

(Cush, Put, Lud, all Arabia, and Libya, and the people who are in league … shall fall with them (Egypt) by the sword.)  “Those who support Egypt shall fall.”

  • “I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
  • He and his people with him shall be brought in to destroy the land,
  • draw their swords against Egypt,
  • fill the land with the slain.   
  • And I will dry up the Nile… I am the LORD, I have spoken. 
  • There shall no longer be a prince from Egypt. 
  • I will set fire to Egypt. 

And Ezekiel continues to tell again that the LORD will defeat, scatter and take captive Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar.  THEN, THEY WILL KNOW….

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God uses nations and kings as pieces on a chessboard.  He knows, He sees. And He performs, according to His goodwill… and with His own people in His mind. All for His chosen. Yes, He is spanking them severely, but for their own good.  But the enemies around them will die.

I recall the blessing God gave to Abraham. (Genesis 12)

“I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

**** LORD, Thank You for Abraham’s blessing and his children (from both flocks). Thank You, that You never change, and a promise is secure with You!